Thursday, 8 December 2016

St John's Church Camden considering selling land

St John's Church Camden

Considering selling land for development

St Johns Church at the end of John Street on the hill above the village in 1890s reflecting its Englishness across the countryside. C Kerry (Camden Images)

St John's Church is Camden's most important heritage icon. It is disappointing to hear that church authorities want to sell off some of their site.

The church site, including the Rectory, is part of the
foundational story of the township of Camden and its District. The church has
played a fundamental role in place making and building community identity over
the past 150 years or more. St John’s Church is the moral and emotional heart of the
Camden township.

The church is an integral part of the story of the Macarthur
family. The church is still, as was in the past, part of the historic vista
from Camden Park house to the Camden village. There are representations of the
church in engravings dating from Andrew Garran’s Picturesque Atlas of
Australasia (1886).

The church is part of the England landscape aesthetics that
was so evident during the Interwar period in the Camden township. Writers like
William Hardy Wilson, Ure Smith, Eldrid Dyer and others have written in lyrical
fashion about the importance of the church to the Englishness of the Camden
village.

The church is set within a fine group of other ecclesiastical buildings that includes the Rectory (1859) and church hall (1906), together with the cemetery in a rural landscaped environment resplendent in native and exotic mature trees, fence lines, paths and memorials.

Central to the town plan was the siting of the church of St John's as the Sydney Herald of 14 February 1840 noted that 'on the greatest elevation of the adjacent hills it is proposed to erect a church, the situation for which will be highly picturesque and commanding'. By the time ofthe sale of the town allotments, the church was under construction and was the main feature of the incipient township prominently sited on the highest point overlooking the principal street, John Street.

At the same time as clearing land for the new township in 1835, James and William Macarthur appealed to their neighbours and employees for help in founding a church (Anglican). By September 1835, 644 pounds had been collected, with the majority (500 pounds) coming from the Macarthurs.

The church and the rectory are a legacy from the 19th century Camden gentry and other members of the community who funded its original construction. It is very easy to destroy the integrity of the church precinct along Menangle Road, which has remained intact from the church’s foundation.

Read more

about St Johns Church and its precinct on the Australian Heritage Database:

It sobering to thing about what has happened adjacent to St Peter's Anglican Church at Campbelltown. Land next to the church was sold off by the NSW State Government for development in September 2015. The land is zoned for up to 10 storey tower block which would overshadow the St Peter's Anglican Primary School next door. Read more on this development here and here

About Author

Dr Ian Willis is a public historian with a special interest in local studies. He is currently an Honorary Fellow at the University of Wollongong, member of the Professional Historians' Association (NSW), member of the Australian Historical Association, contributor to the Dictionary of Sydney and member of the Camden Historical Society.